AROUND THE WORLD.

Judge faults regime in fatal E. coli case

TORONTO — A judge's report blames the provincial government and two others for E. coli contamination that killed seven people and sickened more than 2,000 nearly two years ago.

The report by Justice Dennis O'Connor concluded a nine-month public inquiry involving 114 witnesses into Canada's worst E. coli outbreak. It was released Friday.

Flooding on May 12, 2000, washed cattle manure into a town well in Walkerton, a southern Ontario farming community of 5,000 people 90 miles west of Toronto.

O'Connor said brothers Stan and Frank Koebel lacked the training and education to manage the water supply and lied to regulators to protect their jobs.

Police investigating the case have yet to file any criminal charges. Under the rules of the inquiry, none of O'Connor's findings or conclusions can be used as evidence in a criminal case.

The report also cited the Ontario government's "distaste for regulation," noting it privatized laboratory testing of drinking water in 1996 but failed to enact new rules.

The Ontario government ignored warnings that its spending cuts could increase the possibility of water problems in the province, O'Connor said.

Ontario Premier Mike Harris, who was a witness in the inquiry, said in testimony that his government would never have proceeded with the budget cuts if it had been aware of a public health risk. Harris has announced he will step down as premier in March for personal reasons.

"I am truly sorry for the pain and suffering you have experienced," he said Friday at a news conference in Walkerton after the report was released.